Somewhere in the back catalog of Faith Hill, Elton John, Willie Nelson, and Emmylou Harris lives a Beth Nielsen Chapman song that probably moved you without your knowing her name. She wrote “This Kiss,” which earned ASCAP’s 1999 Song of the Year and a Grammy nomination for Faith Hill. She wrote “Sand and Water” following her husband’s death from cancer, and that title track moved Elton John enough that he began performing it in concert. Seven number-one hits, fifteen albums, and a 2016 induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. On Thursday, October 8, Chapman plays Caffe Lena in Saratoga Springs: 110 seats, a folk club, no real distance between the songwriter and the room.
About the Show
Chapman arrives in Saratoga Springs near the start of a short Northeast run, with stops in Syracuse (October 9), New York City (October 10), and Old Saybrook, Connecticut (October 11), and ahead of a 2027 UK and Ireland tour marking thirty years of Sand and Water. She is touring behind CrazyTown, her fifteenth studio album, released in 2022 on Cooking Vinyl and produced by Ray Kennedy, who has worked with Steve Earle and Lucinda Williams. The album title reflects Chapman’s concerns about societal division; she has invoked Invasion of the Bodysnatchers as a metaphor for what she was processing when the record was made. “The Edge,” a ballad originally written after the death of her husband Ernest, is the kind of song that requires a room willing to go quiet. “Put a Woman in Charge,” co-written with Keb’ Mo’, operates on an entirely different frequency. John Prine and Emmylou Harris have both appeared on her records, and the lineage she works within shows. No supporting act is listed for this date.
Venue & Logistics
Caffe Lena is a Capital Region folk institution, and its 110-seat room is exactly the kind of space where Chapman’s songs land properly: close enough that nothing gets lost between the stage and the back row. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.; the show runs 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. and is all ages. A livestream is also available through Caffe Lena TV for $5, with all proceeds going to the artist.
Tickets
Tickets are $41.21 general admission, $36.87 for Caffe Lena members, and $15.18 for children and students; all prices are inclusive of fees. Buy tickets